TWitM: Two Royals affiliates are headed to the postseason

Congrats!

This Week in the Minors is our weekly look at notable performances from all over the system, from big-name prospects and less-heralded guys alike. The mission is to answer this simple question: “Who had a good week?”

This will be the final “full” edition of This Week in the Minors for 2024. The Columbia Fireflies wrapped up their regular season on Sunday and did not qualify for the playoffs. The River Bandits and Storm Chasers will play playoff baseball, and Northwest Arkansas wraps up their season after this coming week.

This Week in the Minors: Tuesday, August 20 to Sunday, August 25

AAA Omaha Storm Chasers (33-30, 7.5 GB, International League West, 1st half Division Champs)

The Storm Chasers saw their offense sputter some in what was a down week. Some of that could be attributed to some roster flux, as the Royals added and subtracted different names to fill temporary big league roster spots. Stone Russell made his way to Omaha and appeared in two games before being optioned to Double-A Northwest Arkansas on Monday. He had one hit in four at-bats. Infielder Nick Loftin had just one hit in five games after being optioned back to Omaha. Perhaps the best performer of the week was catcher Rodolfo Durán. Durán put together five hits in just three games of work. All hits went for singles, but he struck out just once and also stole a bag.

Drew Waters tied for the team lead with six hits last week. He slashed .316/.364/.526 with two doubles and a triple. He did, however, strike out eight times. Also with six hits last week was infielder Cam Devanney. Devanney has a solid .770 OPS on the season but has also played masterfully in the infield to provide great defensive value for Omaha.

In the rotation, lefty Noah Cameron finally posted a rough outing. It marks his first and only poor outing of the season with Omaha. He allowed six earned runs over six innings of work but also struck out six with just one walk. Dinelson Lamet made two starts last week, pitching to a 3.75 ERA on the week. He worked around ten hits and struck out four in 12.0 IP. Reliever Jonathan Bowlan pitched three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while striking out five. Bowlan also pitched an immaculate inning in his return to Memphis. Eight of Bowlan’s nine strikes on the day were swinging strikes.

AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals (30-32, 8.5 GB, Texas League North)

For Northwest Arkansas, outfielder Diego Hernandez put together perhaps his best week of the entire 2024 season. Hernandez slashed .438/.471/.750 with two doubles and a home run. He struck out just once in four games. Shortstop Leonel Valera tied Hernandez with seven hits of his own. Valera was able to do it in just three games and also stole two bases in the process.

Two other Naturals tied the team lead with seven hits last week. Jack Pineda (.333/.417/.524) and River Town (.318/.400/.318) both walked three times, struck out three times, and finished the week with seven hits. Pineda’s hits came in clutch, bringing in a team-high six RBI on the week. Outfielder Gavin Cross was placed on the Injured List with back spasms and will almost certainly miss the remainder of the 2024 season.

Finally, catcher Carter Jensen continues to put the finishing touches on a relatively solid 2024 season. He slashed .300/.391/.500 last week with two doubles, a home run, and four RBI. Jensen struck out five times but walked his way aboard three times as well. Lefty reliever Josh Taylor started a rehab assignment with the Naturals this week as well.

A+ Quad Cities River Bandits (38-28, 1st Place, Midwest League West)

The Quad Cities lineup is now stocked full of top prospects for the Royals, but it was perhaps the pitching staff that looked most impressive last week. Lefty Frank Mozzicato went four scoreless innings in his outing. The organization has managed his workload down the stretch, otherwise, he’d have likely gone another inning or two. He allowed just two hits and struck out eight without walking a batter. Ryan Ramsey (6.0IP, 1H, 0ER, 1BB, 6 SO) and Hunter Owen also pitched scoreless outings. Owen was perfect in his lone outing, going three full innings and striking out six without allowing a base runner.

2024 draftee, Nate Ackenhausen, continues to pitch well. He’s now appeared in five games for the River Bandits this season and is yet to allow a run to score. He struck out five and allowed just two baserunners in three innings of work last week. Owen wasn’t the only perfect arm last week. Henry Williams also pitched three perfect innings, striking out three in the process. Williams, like Owen and Mozzicato, has had his workload managed some to wrap up the season.

In the lineup, who else but Spencer Nivens to standout? Nivens led the Bandits with seven hits (tying Sam Kulasingam). Two of those went for home runs, giving him an even 20 on the season to lead the farm system. He also led the Bandits with six RBI on the week. Dustin Dickerson finished the week with a 1.025 OPS in four games, thanks mostly to a six-walk performance against just two strikeouts. Catcher Blake Mitchell made his High-A debut and otherwise was slow to adjust up a level. He had two hits on the week with seven strikeouts. First baseman Jac Caglianone hit four singles and struck out four times on the week as well.

A Columbia Fireflies (33-33, 9.5 GB, Carolina League South)

In Columbia, first baseman Callan Moss did his best to fill the void left by Blake Mitchell’s departure to High-A. The first baseman slashed .375/.545/.375 on the week. All six of his hits went for singles, but he also walked six times against just three strikeouts. Shortstop Austin Charles continued his hot stretch down the wire. He finished the week with a double and a triple, walking three times against just two strikeouts.

Outfielder Derlin Figueroa hit three home runs on the week en route to a team-high .983 OPS. The 20-year-old was acquired from Los Angeles in the Ryan Yarbrough trade last summer and has a 98 wRC+ this season.

Pitcher Josh Hansell allowed just one hit over five scoreless innings in his start. A 2023 16th-round pick, Hansell now owns a 2.52 ERA in his first professional season. Fellow 2023 draftee, Logan Martin, also pitched five scoreless innings last week. Martin has a 3.62 ERA on the season, all with Low-A Columbia. Hiro Wyatt finished his first professional season with a five-inning performance. He allowed two runs to score and struck out just one batter. Still, Wyatt’s 2.67 ERA with Columbia was fantastic this season. He ends the year with 26 strikeouts and nine walks over 27.0 IP for the Fireflies.

Rounding out the rotation, Jonatan Bernal went six scoreless, working around just one hit and one walk. Bernal is a 22-year-old native of Mexico pitching in Low-A for the second time in his career. He did so back in 2022 as well before being shipped to Kansas City from Toronto in exchange for Foster Griffin. He pitched to a 3.49 ERA for Columbia this season.